Lawrence of Malta confirms that an increase in the power surcharge is inevitable.
This news comes 2 days after we were told Malta's inflation in May was at a high 4.1 per cent and 2 weeks after we found out food prices in April rose by 9.7 per cent when compared to a year earlier.
Housing still costs as much as it does in Tinseltown.
Wages are still similar to those in Uzbekistan.
Can we stop acting like things are swell when they obviously aren't?
This country is in the shitter. Yes, it is.
Read also Standard of Living in Malta and Relative Cost of Living.
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5 comments:
"This country is in the shitter" - I agree!
The sad part of the story is that in spite of winning the election, Dr Gonzi is not doing much to rest the minds of thousands of Maltese people who are having to tighten their belts as several prices continue to increase and as the salaries in most companies remain relatively stagnant.
In Malta, there are some VERY wealthy people. They have generated massive amounts of people, but in the absence of a socialist economic model, such wealth is not distributed fairly. I have met some fairly rich individuals in this country and I can assure you that they do not give a damn about the employee who is busting his .... for many hours a day in return for little more than the minimum wage!
How I wish that the media in this country could shed more light on this matter to educate the masses instead of alienating them with beauty and music competitions! It might be pleasant to watch a Miss Bikini of the Year (LOL!), but it surely won't improve my standard of living!!! :)
Capitalism isn't about the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. That's just what happens when you have too many greedy employers and too many employees who are willing to work for little money.
It goes without saying that Malta is such a case, full of managers overloaded with responsability who are paid a measly Lm500 a month gross, while their employers buy villas and BMW X5s and yachts and what not.
Capitalism is about selfishness and greed, and this was made clear from the writings dating back to Adam Smith's times.
"Too many employees who are willing to work for little money"? I am pretty confident that thousands of employees in this country are not willing to work for little money, but when they are threatened by the spectre of unemployment and when there are no unions to struggle for them, what can they do? They end up having to accept whatever is proposed to them. Of course, there are a few individuals who can afford to spend some months unemployed until they find a job which is slightly more decent, but most workers - burdened with high utility bills, high food prices, and loans - simply cannot afford to remain unemployed for more than a week or so, if at all!
Throughout history, societies have almost always been divided between a controlling and exploitative minority and the oppressed, exploited masses. Although the people who exploit others now wear suits and go around in their BMWs instead of being carried by slaves, the struggle between exploiter and exploited is as real as it was centuries ago.
The average private employer is not going to accept to increase a salary simply as a result of some smooth-talking. I find such thinking to be totally utopian.
Workers need to unite because there is strength in numbers. Once there is this unity and a clear vision for the future, things can change.
There are many capitalist countries where employers make loads of money and pay their employees relatively well.
As we know, Malta isn't one of them. Here most employers don't take cost of living into consideration when paying staff. They don't care about their employees' inability to afford a small apartment, or a small car, or hefty bills, or even food on the table. Their main aim is to underpay employees. Aim numero uno is to save a buck, and place it in a piggy bank which has "Next Yacht" written across the front.
For instance, they'd rather fill the post of a secretary with a bad candidate who'll work for €700 than hire a better candidate who demands €950. (Then they expect quality work from the bad candidate, but let's not get into that.) Good candidates can't afford to be jobless so they accept some job for less than they deserve, and immediately start looking for a better job. Yet employers expect "loyalty" and are shocked when an underpaid employee gives notice.
They never learn, so they replace that employee with someone cheap, who's not as good, and then complain that the previous employee was better. Then why didn't they pay that employee more as an incentive to stay? That's out of the question. Such employers would rather be unhappy with underpaid staff than happy with well-paid staff.
It's a psychological thing. Douglas McGregor called them Theory X managers i.e. managers who still follow management styles set up during the feudal system. Little do they know that well-paid, well-motivated staff will make them fill that piggy bank much, much quicker.
Check out McGregor's XY theory, Red. I'm sure you'll like it.
I am getting increasingly worried about this situation...I am earning a Salvadoran wage (though a good one when compared to Salvadoran standards but nothing "extraordinary") but I am living with European prices, spending three times as much that is.
Housing costs...It will take us around 35 years to repay the loan and we can't afford to furnish the place because we got a flexi credit to install the bathroom and to buy the bare essentials...Anyway, my story is probably that of many other Maltese. The other worrying thing is that we have two salaries as both of us work. You can't afford to have kids or take care of your own house anymore as being part time would be a joke for us right now. Having kids? Good one :) I tell my friends.
Sometimes I am tempted to go abroad for a while to earn a good salary to repay the loan faster...I wish salaries increased...
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